Mackey – Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry Vol. 1

ANDROGYNOUS MASONRY 87lodge the squadron, and the sisters performed the fictitious`voyage to the island of Felicity sons la voile des freres etpilotdes par eux ; and the candidate promised "never toreceive a foreign ship into her port as long as a ship of theOrder was anchored there ."The Order of the `° Lovers of Pleasure " was a militaryinstitution, a pale revival of the ceremonies of chivalry andthe courts of love, improvised in the French camp in Galicia .From the discourse of one of the orators we select thefollowing passage : " Our scope is to embellish our existence,always taking for our guide the words, `Honour, Joy, andDelicacy .' Our scope, moreover, is to be faithful to ourcountry and the august sovereign who fills the universe withhis glorious name, to serve a cause which ought to be gratefulto every gentle soul, that of protecting youth and innocence,and of establishing between the ladies and ourselves aneternal alliance, cemented by the purest friendship ." Thissociety, it is said, was much favoured by Napoleon I ., andhence we may infer that its aim was not purely pleasure ;at all events, it is remarkable that a society, having masonicrites, should have given its services to the "august sovereign"who had just withdrawn his support from genuine Freemasonry.473. Knights and Nymphs of the Rose.--This Order wasfounded in Paris in 1778 by Chaumont, private secretary toLouis-Philippe d'Orleans, to please that prince . The chieflodge was held in one of the famous petites maisons of thatepoch. The great lords had lodges in their own houses .The Hierophant, assisted by a deacon called '° Sentiment,"initiated the men, and the Grand Priestess, assisted by thedeaconess called "Discretion," initiated the women . Theage of admission for knights was "the age to love," thatof ladies "the agee to please and to be loved ." Love andmystery were the programme of the Order ; the lodge wascalled the Temple of Love, which was beautifully adornedwith garlands of flowers and amorous emblems and devices .The knights wore a crown of myrtle, the nymphs a crown ofroses . During the time of initiation a dark lantern, held bythe nymph of Discretion, shed a dim light, but afterwardsthe lodge was illuminated with numerous wax candles . Theaspirants, laden with chains, to symbolise the prejudices thatkept them prisoners, were asked, " What seek you here? "to which they replied, " Happiness ." They were then questionedas to their private opinion and conduct in matters ofgallantry, and made twice to traverse the lodge over a path